BETA READING

I offer beta reading at a rate of $.001 per word, or $80 for an 80,000 word manuscript.

Beta reading is a great way to identify potential problems with your book and to get an objective opinion on how well you’ve told the story. The key to useful beta reading is that objectivity. If you rely only on friends and family, or even friendly readers and writers from your social media world, you can never be sure that they’ve been completely honest with you. It might be satisfying to be told, “It’s great! I loved it!” But that won’t help you make your book the best it can be. You need a reader with a fresh, frank eye.

I will read your novel and provide notes on plot, characterization, language, and other important elements of fiction. I’ll alert you to problems I see in grammar and punctuation (though I’ll save actual proofreading for the next step, if you’d like to hire me for that), and I’ll provide ideas and advice for formatting the manuscript as well.

Beta reading is ideal for authors who have already revised their book but are trying to perfect it before hiring an editor. As a beta reader, I might recommend changes that result in another round of revision, and this way you’ll avoid the full cost of proofreading and/or copyediting until the book is truly ready.

Contact me with any questions you might have. I’m pleased to read any genre.